Central Christian drops Crusader mascot

The Webster's International Dictionary defines a crusader as: "one engaged in a crusade."

Looking at the word from a broad perspective shortly after it opened in 1960, Central Christian High School thought it would be the perfect moniker for its athletic teams.

However, as the years have passed, the school has become more and more sensitive to the base of the word, "crusade," which appears just above crusader in the same dictionary. Included in the definition of crusade, Webster's says: "an expedition undertaken for a declared religious purpose. ... a campaign or war sanctioned by the church against unbelievers or heretics."

Although the Crusader mascot was chosen for its wider meaning, the fact so many people associate it with The Crusades of the middle ages prompted Central Christian to do away with the moniker at its June board of trustees meeting. As of Aug. 1, the school officially will be without a mascot and in search of a new one.

Principal Fred Miller said the Crusader was a symbol that had troubled the school for years, and the time had finally come to do something about it.

"Crusader was chosen in the 1960s to represent evangelistic and passionate focus on Christ," said Miller, who also is the school's volleyball coach. "However, the dominant image today associates it with The Crusades of the middle ages -- an event equal to the Holocaust in its evil.

"Such an association is no longer acceptable to us. ... 'Politically correct' is kind of a catchword lately, but that's not the issue. We want a mascot we can be totally comfortable with, and proud of."

The original Crusaders of the middle ages were blood-thirsty people. They slaughtered thousands of people, especially Muslims and Jews, as they waged war in the name of Christ throughout Europe and the Holy Land from the 11th through 13th centuries.

Central Christian further explained its reasoning in a newsletter on the subject in which it reported: "The Crusades were not a positive time in history. Terrible massacres occurred between Christian groups and Muslims in the name of Christianity. The Crusader image glorifies a negative symbol representing true evil. ... In our changing and much expanded world, the Crusader mascot no longer seems appropriate."

Miller said students, faculty and alumni will continue to be invited to submit recommendations for nickname, but no exact timetable has been set for a new mascot to be in place.

"Realistically, I don't see us having a mascot for the start of the school year," Miller said. "We have 30 suggestions in already, but it will still take time to get a nickname everyone agrees on. There also is the possibility we could decide not to have a mascot -- there are some schools in the OHSAA without nicknames -- but I think we'll be able to agree on one. My best guess is maybe by Christmas."

Miller said two items came to the school's attention in the past year -- a video on The Middle Ages and the dropping of the nickname by Div. III Wheaton (Ill.) College -- which helped intensify discussions about the nickname and eventually force action.

The video titled "That the World May Know, Set 3, Video VI, Lesson 17: Misguided Faith" helped open more eyes about what went on during The Crusades. The school also studied with interest the process and reasoning used by Wheaton College as it dropped the Crusader nickname it had since 1927 for the same reason last spring.

At the time of Wheaton's decision, the college's president, Dr. Duane Litfin, said the decision was not made because of "pressure" or simply to be "politically correct."

In a column Litfin authored for a college publication, he explained that in today's technically connected world it's more important than ever to look at the viewpoints of others as well as your own people.

"Our new environment forces us into a consciousness of how other people think, including how they think about us," Litfin wrote. "... I became aware of how offensive the image of The Crusades is to large segments of the world. ... what I discovered was anything but ideal. Christians massacring Muslims; Muslims massacring Christians; Western Christians killing Eastern Christians and vice versa.

"We are hard pressed to find anything in these disastrous waves of fighting that our Lord might have approved, despite the fact that the conflict was ostensibly carried out in His name."

Miller said the action of Wheaton made that school a role model for Central Christian to finally take action.

"You could say what Wheaton did helped give us the courage to finally do it, to push the envelope," Miller said. "The student body was against the change before studying Wheaton and the video, but Miller believes the majority sided with the decision after learning more about The Crusades.

"I think (Crusader) is a really good nickname for a Christian school," said Liz Zaleski, a Central Christian athlete who will be a junior in the fall. "I'm able look at it a certain way and like it, but I understand why the decision was made. There are a lot of negative connotations for the nickname because of The Crusades."

Marie Barbera, who was a 4-year starter for the basketball team and graduated earlier this summer, also agreed with the change.

"I really didn't think it was appropriate until we were shown the video explaining The Crusades," Barbera said. "After that, I pretty much accepted the change that we all knew would probably be made and I think the rest of the student body was okay with it also. What happened during The Crusades is totally contradictory to what our school is trying to stand for."